Glossary of literary devices (literary terms) of English literature with definitions and examples
A
- Accumulation
- Active Voice
- Ad Hominem
- Adage
- Adynaton
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Amplification
- Anachronism
- Anacoluthon
- Anadiplosis
- Anagnorisis
- Anagram
- Analogy
- Analytical Essay
- Anapest
- Anaphora
- Anecdote
- Antagonist
- Antanaclasis
- Antecedent
- Anthimeria
- Anthology
- Anthropomorphism
- Anti-Climax
- Anti-Hero
- Antimetabole
- Antiphrasis
- Antistrophe
- Antithesis
- Aphorism
- Aphorismus
- Aporia
- Aposiopesis
- Apostrophe
- Appositive
- Archaism
- Archetype
- Argument
- Argumentative Essay
- Aside
- Assertion
- Assonance
- Asyndeton
- Atmosphere
- Attitude
- Audience
- Autobiography
C
- Cacophony
- Cadence
- Caesura
- Canon
- Canto
- Caricature
- Catachresis
- Catastrophe
- Catharsis
- Cause and Effect Essay
- Character
- Characterization
- Chiasmus
- Circumlocution
- Claim
- Cliché
- Cliffhanger
- Climax
- Coherence
- Colloquialism
- Comedy
- Comparatives
- Comparison
- Comparison and Contrast Essay
- Conceit
- Concession
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Context
- Contrast
- Couplet
- Critical Essay
- Critique
- Cumulative Sentence
D
E
- Elegy
- Elision
- Ellipsis
- End Rhyme
- End-Stopped Line
- Enjambment
- Enthymeme
- Enumeration
- Epic
- Epigram
- Epigraph
- Epilogue
- Epiphany
- Epiphora
- Epistolary
- Epistrophe
- Epitaph
- Epithet
- Epizeuxis
- Eponym
- Eristic
- Essay
- Ethos
- Eulogy
- Euphemism
- Euphony
- Evidence
- Exaggeration
- Exemplum
- Expletive
- Explication
- Explicatory Essay
- Exposition
- Expository Essay
- Extended Metaphor
- External Conflict
F
H
I
M
P
- Pacing
- Palindrome
- Parable
- Paradox
- Paralipsis
- Parallel Structure
- Parallelism
- Paraphrase
- Paraprosdokian
- Parataxis
- Parenthesis
- Parody
- Paronomasia
- Parrhesia
- Passive Voice
- Pastiche
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Pathos
- Pedantic
- Pentameter
- Periphrasis
- Persona
- Personification
- Perspective
- Persuasion
- Persuasive Essay
- Pleonasm
- Plot
- Poem
- Poetic Justice
- Point of View
- Polyptoton
- Polysyndeton
- Portmanteau
- Procatalepsis
- Process Essay
- Prologue
- Propaganda
- Prose
- Prosody
- Prosthesis
- Protagonist
- Proverb
- Pun
R
S
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Scansion
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
- Semantic
- Sesquipedalian
- Sestet
- Sestina
- Setting
- Sibilance
- Simile
- Simple Paragraph
- Situational Irony
- Slang
- Snark
- Solecism
- Soliloquy
- Sonnet
- Speaker
- Spondee
- Stanza
- Static Character
- Straw Man
- Stream of Consciousness
- Style
- Subjective
- Subplot
- Superlative
- Surrealism
- Suspense
- Syllogism
- Symbolism
- Syncope
- Synecdoche
- Synesis
- Synesthesia
- Syntax